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A “New” New York State of Mind: Empire State Building Redefines New York City Skyline With Philips LED Lighting

Business Wire

May 09, 2012

Globally recognized as an engineering marvel and symbol of New York
City, the Empire State Building (ESB) has selected Philips, the world’s
leader in lighting, as its partner to transition the building’s iconic
tower lights to innovative LEDs. The two organizations have pushed the
boundaries of LED technology to develop a state-of-the-art dynamic
lighting system from Philips Color Kinetics that is unique to ESB and
will allow the building’s façade and mast to change lighting scenes in
real-time. In addition to greater control and management of the
lighting, the new system will deliver the superior light levels for the
design, as well as allow ESB to highlight its architectural details.

ESB celebrates many cultures and causes in the world community with
iconic lightings. Its tower lights recognize key milestones, events,
charitable organizations, countries and holidays, a tradition started in
1932, when a simple searchlight was used to announce the election of New
York-born Franklin Delano Roosevelt as President. To honor the United
States Bicentennial, ESB installed colored floodlights to illuminate the
building at night, lighting up red, white and blue, leading to today’s
very popular Lighting Partner program. The new Philips LED lighting
system will help to enhance this program by making each lighting more
unique and special.

ESB is replacing its traditional light fixtures with LEDs as part of its
21st century renovation. The new computerized system will allow
customized light capabilities from a palette of over 16 million colors,
including hard-to-achieve pastels, in virtually limitless combinations.
The LED lights will replace the current palette of 10 colors, which also
requires a team several hours to change the building’s nearly 400
fixtures. Soon ESB staff will be able to create and update customized
lights, using new energy-efficient technology.

“Throughout our $550 million Empire State ReBuilding program, we’ve
looked at every aspect of the building to make it energy efficient and
install 21st century technology, befitting of its position as
the World’s Most Famous Office Building,” said Anthony Malkin, president
of Malkin Holdings. “It is time to update our iconic tower lighting.
Initially, as we have both old-fashioned high intensity discharge and
LED lighting side-by-side, there will be no obvious difference to the
public’s view. But in September when the LED changeover is complete, we
will see some differences. We surveyed the market for the most
technologically advanced, energy efficient, and reliable lighting system
to illuminate the international, iconic symbol of the New York City
skyline. Philips Color Kinetics’ LED system will make our world famous
tower lightings that much more magical.”

Moreover, using Philips Color Kinetics LED lighting technology will make
it possible to control and focus the light exactly where and how the
effect is desired. Ripple, cross-fade, particle and burst effects,
previously not possible, can be easily automated to create unique
lighting designs. The new Philips lighting system will also allow the
building to minimize light spill, ensuring that light is focused on the
façade and mast, while providing enough light to allow the building to
be seen from anywhere in New York City. This feature not only respects
the night sky, but the building’s neighbors as well.

“Lighting the Empire State Building has been a technical challenge and
aspiration for us, and one that we have been working on with the ESB for
years,” said Jeff Cassis, general manager of Philips Color Kinetics. “We
have been developing our LED technology to create a solution that could
achieve the right light levels and design for the building’s façade,
while keeping true to the building’s identity as an iconic symbol of New
York and building innovation. The result is a unique LED lighting system
that creates as much light as the traditional light sources that it is
designed to replace, yet one that can be adapted on the fly to redefine
the New York City skyline."

Soaring 1,454 feet (from base to antenna) above Midtown Manhattan, the
Empire State Building is the “World’s Most Famous Office Building.” With
new investments in infrastructure, public areas and amenities, the
Empire State Building has attracted first-rate tenants in a diverse
array of industries from around the world. The skyscraper’s robust
broadcasting technology supports all major television and FM radio
stations in the New York metropolitan market. The Empire State Building
was named America’s favorite building in a poll conducted by the
American Institute of Architects. The Empire State Building Observatory
is one of the world’s most beloved attractions and is the region’s #1
tourist destination. For more information on the Empire State Building,
please visit www.esbnyc.com,
www.facebook.com/EmpireStateBuilding
or @EmpireStateBldg.

About Royal Philips Electronics

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) is a
diversified health and well-being company, focused on improving people’s
lives through meaningful innovation. As a world leader in healthcare,
lifestyle and lighting, Philips integrates technologies and design into
people-centric solutions, based on fundamental customer insights and the
brand promise of “sense and simplicity”. Headquartered in the
Netherlands, Philips employs approximately 122,000 employees with sales
and services in more than 100 countries worldwide. With sales of EUR
22.6 billion in 2011, the company is a market leader in cardiac care,
acute care and home healthcare, energy efficient lighting solutions and
new lighting applications, as well as lifestyle products for personal
well-being and pleasure with strong leadership positions in male shaving
and grooming, portable entertainment and oral healthcare. News from
Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter.

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